#they're both caniforms while the mongoose is a feliform

[nonebinary-leftbeef]

Evolution and taxonomy is wild

Like guess which two of these are most closely related. Go ahead. Guess.

[harpywritesfic]

Cool dice 🟣

why thank you! i know many facts which plague my mind! and as you have opened the can of worms that is my hyperfixation, i will share! (my special interest is animals haha). this is off the top of my head, with a healthy amount of fact checking. PLEASE feel free to not read this.

5/7 of the big cats are in the genus panthera! the other big cats are the cheetah (genus Acinonyx) and the cougar (genus Puma). one subspecies of cougar is literally Puma concolor concolor. Clouded leopards (genus Neofelis) are more closely related to Panthera than the other two big cats. Neofelis and Panthera both belong to subfamily pantherinae, while every other felid belongs to felinae (the felines!)

The difference is that pantherinae can roar, while felinae cannot. The difference is in the mobility of the hyoid bone!

carnivores can be separated by how closely they relate to canines or felines. These groups are caniforms and feliforms! here are some species that fall into each:

Caniforms: bears, mustelids (weasels, otters, badgers), raccoons, pinnipeds (pinnipeds are seals, sea lions, and walruses! pinniped means fin foot.)

Feliforms: hyenas, mongooses (which includes meerkats!), vivverids (civets, binturongs/bearcats) (wondering what a civet is? they're like long cats.)

the saber-toothed cat's genus is Smilodon, for their chompers.

see i like carnivorans more than most mammals- in large part because they are NOT marsupials or worse, monotremes. i HATE monotremes they are so screwed up they need to get out of my sight. ( i have never seen one. this is because they know i would punt them like a football. not because they're all australian.)

so, to understand why monotremes are awful, you must understand mammals are classed by reproductive habits. placentals are live-birth species like humans. marsupials birth what are basically fetuses and grow them in a pouch. monotremes, however? they lay eggs. and, as a mammal, they nurse their young. but they don't have nipples. they secrete milk from their skin. the platypus is a monotreme. how tf does an animal with a beak nurse? echidnas are the other four species of monotreme, and they have pouches like a marsupial. echidnas have a horribly unusual penis too. i'm talking four heads. and they use two. but they can alternate which two they use. they also have a very large penis to body size ratio. i don't know whether or not to recommend googling it, so make your own conclusion. the platypus is also one of very few venomous mammals (other venomus species include certain vampire bats, shrews, and the slow loris). platypus males have a venomous spur on their legs. the correct way to lift one is by the tail to avoid the spurs. the venom won't kill a human but it'll hurt like a bitch.

more horrible reproductive facts, you ask? how about one for the placental mammals? the baculum is a bone in the penis of many placentals. even most primates, but humans haven't got them. the walrus has the longest baculum of any species. i'm talking TWO FEET. (that's 61 centimeters, kitty.)

less horrible reproductive facts, you ask? actually, i need to go to sleep.